Current approaches to surgical treatments for gallbladder disease include open surgical resection, laparoscopic resection, and most recently natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery. The risks of these aforementioned techniques include the risks of trans-abdominal and/or transluminal incision (bleeding, infection, perforation, post-operative pain, adhesions, incisional hernia, risks of anesthesia).
Endoscopic approaches to treat gallbladder or biliary disease have been previously reported. Cholecystogastrostomy creation using endoscopic ultrasound assisted T-tag placement has been described. This technique requires breach of the gastric and gallbladder walls.
Another technique has utilized neodymium magnets for the creation of magnet compression anastomosis between the common bile duct and the small intestine. However, this treats obstruction of the common bile duct and does not address alternative gallbladder access, nor does it treat gallbladder disease per se.
A clinical need thus exists for a more minimally invasive procedure and enabling technology which will facilitate the creation of anastomosis between two adjacent organs in the gastrointestinal tract to create an opening between said organs as a replacement procedure for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and/or cholecystogastrostomy.